1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to locking devices for firearms having a magazine guide, and particularly to locking devices for fully or semi-automatic firearms.
In the society of today, various kinds of firearms are used by authorities and companies, such as military authorities, the police, customs, security and surveyance companies, arms dealers as well as by private persons. One problem connected with such widespread use is the risk that the firearms many be stolen or used improperly by unauthorized persons. For preventive purposes the firearms may be locked into safes, be locked to wall-mounted weapon locks or the like when stored. However, these locking systems cannot be used during transportation of the firearms, for example to or from a shooting range, in addition to which such systems are expensive and comparatively voluminous.
Another manner of solving this problem is to separate the main firearm components from one another and to store the various components of the firearm in different places in order to make access to a complete firearm more difficult. However, this is a method that is inconvenient to the user, in addition to which it does not prevent separate arm components from being stolen or disappearing and, together with components from other firearms, being assembled by an unauthorized person into a complete firearm. To store and transport firearm components separately obviously involves disadvantages as such, particularly if it becomes necessary to use the firearm very quickly.
Another Type of locking device for firearms is a trigger guard lock which prevents the trigger from being actuated. These locks are, however, usually easy to remove by impact or either damage to the lock, sometimes together with the trigger guard proper, without the firearm becoming unusable. In addition, this type of locking device suffers from the drawback that important components of the firearm, such as the bolt and the barrel, cannot be locked. (The term bolt is to be interpreted herein in a wide sense, as comprising also other movable components, such as components incorporated in the barrel and/or its prolongation.) If the trigger guard lock cannot be removed, these components thus could be removed in an unauthorized manner from the locked firearm and be used together with other firearms.
A further type of locking device for firearms are cartridge chamber locks which are positioned and locked in the cartridge chamber n the firearm barrel. The person using the cartridge chamber lock must insert his finger into the firearm box in order to lock or unlock the cartridge chamber lock when the bolt of the firearm assumes its retracted position. To do this may cause injuries to the fingers, should the spring-biased bolt come loose in the retracted position and be forced forward by spring action towards the barrel. In addition, cartridge chamber locks suffer from the drawback of being difficult to attach because the interior space of the firearm locks usually is very small. Also this type of locking device suffers from the disadvantage that important components of the firearm, such as the bolt, may be removed from a locked firearm by unauthorized persons and be used together with other firearms. It is also comparatively simple to remove the cartridge chamber lock from the barrel by drilling it away by means of a drill inserted from the outer end of the barrel.